Thursday, March 22, 2007

BURN OUT and Hominy

Today is my first day off in 6 days, and I'm burned out. I've been taking a healthy nap every afternoon when I get home, and yet I'm still dragging by 9pm, and whining for more sleep at 3am. Maybe I need a longer nap.

Hominy... I love hominy. Did you know that hominy is related to yellow corn? Actually hominy IS corn, dried corn that has been soaked in lye to remove the outer casing, which is supposed to make it easier to cook, more tasty and (get this) easier to digest. Wrong! I made a lamb and hominy stew last night inspired by a Hopi mutton stew we ate in Keams Canyon, Arizona, and while my version was quite delicious, there was no doubt this morning what I ate the night before. The same 'chew your corn' advisory pertains to hominy.

I made a dash into our local neighborhood over priced supermarket this morning to get some comfort food for one of the Oompas who is home sick (Get well Becca Bee) and was stuck at the end of the cue for the only register open. When another lane was finally open I quickly moved over. The bubbly cashier babbled about how she irritates her bosses while the stoic bagger methodically placed my fruits and vegetables into a plastic bag. Their demeanor immediately changed when they realized that I worked for Wally World.

"I have NEVER seen ANY ONE there smiling." the bagger blurted out, speaking for the first time. "NEVER!" he emphasized, his expression never changing.

Hmmmmmmm, so to sum up my morning shopping experience: 1) Only one checkout lane at 7:30am; 2) Backup cashier feels compelled to fill customer in on the store's short comings; 3) Customer's own store was also insulted by both fill-in cashier and bagger... who never once smiled; 4) if I actually needed all of those Tampax and Kotex coupons spit out to me by the auto checkout coupon dispenser I would have bled to death years ago.

But you know what... I really love that overly priced neighborhood supermarket, ditzy backup cashiers, unsmiling baggers and all! Its one of the pluses of living in small town USA.

Don't forget the BLOG CRAWL 3: BEFORE COMPUTERS. I'll be posting the participating entries later this evening. Its not too late to get listed. We're looking for stories, poems, photos and/or graphics describing life before computers. Leave a link to your entry in the BLOG CRAWL comments and come back later to read the entries of other participants.

I have always wondered with my own supermarket, if they took less time chatting more time smiling and actually doing their job, how much more pleasant and efficient things would run. But alas that is not to be the case, most times the bagger disappears just as it's your turn. I laughed my head off at your comment on the coupons. Ever wonder why their are never any coupons for items you might actually need or use?(Hugs) Indigo

So..................I start "Easter Bunny" tomorrow and don't get a day of for 15 days. And I love hominy and in fact I made hominy way back in 1943. Damn I'm old. .......lol By the way I saw Becca on the Ice and Rocky in the shadows and you've never gone back to Clubmom to see the sixty family photos I put in since January???????????????????????? Some of them are your amily too.